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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24875011">guided by fireflies.</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/arurun/pseuds/%E3%82%8B%E3%82%8B%E5%87%AA%20-%20nagi'>るる凪 - nagi (arurun)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fairy Tail</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Canon, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Laxus Redemption, Natsu is in the Raijinshu, Natsu knows he is END, Not Canon Compliant, The Dragon Slayers remember each other, actions have consequences, natsu is end</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 10:15:57</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>8,354</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24875011</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/arurun/pseuds/%E3%82%8B%E3%82%8B%E5%87%AA%20-%20nagi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Natsu knows of his real identity, and the dragon's children remember their roots in vague pictures and wise words. The Dragon Slayer Lacrima is more than just magic in a stone, but Laxus can't find a way to tell anyone without sounding like a maniac.</p><p>The changes are miniscule, but the ripples are large.</p><p>  <b>A Fairy Tail Rewrite, from the very beginning.</b></p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>96</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. X777 and before.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is a slightly darker, alternate canon take on Fairy Tail. </p><p>Natsu sort of remembered Wendy when they first met-- what if he did? What if they <i>all</i> did? And what if the Second Generation Slayers are actually taking a dragon's spirit along with the magic in that Lacrima?</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Gajeel’s first memory was of Metalicana and a boy with salmon pink hair. Then it was a beautiful lady with blonde hair, and golden keys shimmering in the light.</p><p>Then, Phantom Lord.</p><p>Living along, scavenging for scraps. It’s a relief that he can eat iron when things come to dire straits, but it’s not nutrition. </p><p> </p><p>
  <em> (Little Blue tells him it’s probably not good for his tummy.) </em>
</p><p>
  <em> (Sunshine and Mini Edgelord always think he’s cool, and he loves the attention.) </em>
</p><p>
  <em> (Spitfire. Spitfire thinks eating iron is gross-- as if eating flames would be any less nasty.)</em>
</p><p> </p><p>He doesn’t remember any of their names, and their faces are all a blur. </p><p>Maybe that means it doesn’t matter who they are anymore. After all, he’s alone now, isn’t he? That has to mean something.</p><p> </p><p>(He’s just too tired to care. If he can’t find an island-sized dragon in this world, what are the chances he’ll ever see the others again?)</p><p> </p><p>Munching on a handful of nails like they’re a mouthful of cookies, Gajeel thinks he’s fine. He has Juvia here to judge his eating choices.</p><p>That’s enough.</p><p> </p><p>-</p><p> </p><p>“Dragon Slayer Magic-- that’s Ancient Magic, isn’t it?”</p><p>“Yeah, I learned it from a dragon.”</p><p>That’s a common conversation for Gajeel, and each time, Gajeel was careful about it. He didn’t know a thing about his past, but he knew what was important.</p><p>“But they’re extinct.”</p><p>“Yeah,” Gajeel would always tell them, “they sure are.”</p><p>Then he’d punch them in the face or throw the closest thing to his hand at them, depending on his mood. And then the guild would laugh at their plight and Gajeel would sit down at the table, waiting for the meek little waiter to serve him his bowl of iron salad.</p><p> </p><p>Dragons are extinct? What a joke.</p><p>They’re literally looking right at one, aren’t they?</p><p>Blind morons.</p><p> </p><p>-</p><p> </p><p>He saw a girl with bright pink hair in the crowd one day, but he held himself back and didn’t do a thing. He simply blinked and turned in the opposite direction, throwing some hunger excuse behind him.</p><p>Juvia sighed behind him.</p><p>Gajeel never looked too long in her direction, either. Blue hair, just a shade too off, and it’s the most he can take.</p><p> </p><p>He liked being alone, but he didn’t like being <em> by himself </em>. </p><p> </p><p>He remembered the days where it was just the five of them and their dragon parents, when every day was fun and loud and joyful, even though pink was annoying, blue was naggy, white was obnoxious, and black kept getting lost.</p><p>He still found himself instinctively looking around every once in a while, only to belatedly remember that his Mini Edgelord wasn’t around and he didn’t need to keep track of it anymore. </p><p>It’s not quite a habit-- it was more of an animalistic instinct, and a dragon-hungry need for companionship.</p><p> </p><p>(No, no being sappy isn’t like him. Damn it, he’s tougher than this.)</p><p> </p><p>-</p><p> </p><p>Then it happened, one day.</p><p>Dressed in an oversized sweater, a kid with too much hair on his head. A little homeless kid, no doubt, a little thief with an armful of apples and an angry grocer hot on his heels.</p><p>Probably, he’s seven or eight years old.</p><p> </p><p>Gajeel’s reaching over before he even realizes it, an arm hooking over the kid and scooping him right up by the scruff before hooking him over his back like casual baggage.</p><p>A glare is enough to chase the shopkeeper away.</p><p>Gajeel barely has time to turn over before the kid is <em> biting </em>him in the hand. With a squawk, Gajeel lets go unceremoniously, essentially tossing the child away from him.</p><p> </p><p>“Ah, shit!” he’d thrown too hard.</p><p>The kid lands harshly, but he rolls to a stand and continues running immediately.</p><p>Gajeel doesn’t waste a second.</p><p>“Wait, you!” he raises his voice. He’s not sure why he bothers, but the words leave him in an act of desperation. </p><p>He only helps him for a second, but the smell lingers.</p><p>This familiar, home-like smell.</p><p> </p><p>(Gajeel can't let him leave.)</p><p> </p><p>“I’m Gajeel! Who’re you?!”</p><p>To his own surprise, the kid stops running. Arm still full of apples, the kid slowly turns around. Eyes squinting in confusion, he shrinks back a little when Gajeel steps forward.</p><p>“Gajeel?” the child repeats.</p><p> </p><p>Gajeel is quite a bit older than him, towering over the kid in height.</p><p>He approaches slowly, because damn the kid is fidgety and he looks like he’s ready to punch Gajeel and run-- but Gajeel crouches down before the kid to get a closer look.</p><p>He rubs the back of his neck.</p><p>Gajeel doesn’t know how to talk to kids, “well, how do I say this… you’re like me, aren’t you? It’s been a while, and you were a brat, so maybe you don’t remember me… what’s your name?”</p><p>The kid squeaks a little, hugging his apples protectively. He’s keeping a close, suspicious eye on the older boy, but his gaze darts around every once in a while, in a way that means he’s looking for his first chance to run.</p><p>“...Ryos.”</p><p> </p><p>This is so troublesome.</p><p> </p><p>“You hungry?” Gajeel asks instead. “Wanna come with me?”</p><p> </p><p>-</p>
<hr/><p>-</p><p> </p><p>The Dragon Lacrima gave Laxus a little more than just an overload of magic.</p><p>It gave him a voice in his head.</p><p> </p><p>Gildarts squints skeptically at him. “Laxus, did you take too many of those motion sickness potions again? You know they make you kinda woozy.”</p><p>“I’m being serious here!” Laxus yells, not for the first time in the past hour. He throws his hands into the air. “Fuck this, none of you are going to believe me, forget it.”</p><p>Gildarts laughs as Laxus turns around and marches out. </p><p> </p><p>All this was hopeless.</p><p>Makarov had never liked anything Ivan did, so Laxus kept the lacrima a secret to begin with-- but if Ivan and Gildarts both didn’t believe Laxus-- would Gramps believe him?</p><p>(He didn’t.)</p><p>(So Laxus never bothered to tell anyone again.)</p><p>(They might just send him to a therapist instead.)</p><p> </p><p>It might have just been a side effect of the Dragon Lacrima, but Laxus’ nights are plagued with nightmares of a time he isn’t old enough to know.</p><p>The magic gave him keen ears, a sharp nose, and a sensitive feel for magic.</p><p>And it always whispers to him, pleading him, like a raging, undying soul bound to his magic-- and it’s asking him a favour.</p><p> </p><p>
  <b> <em>(“I’ll lend you my magic, so take care of our legacy.”)</em> </b>
  <b></b>
</p><p>
  <em> What legacy? Who are you?</em>
</p><p> </p><p>He asks and asks, but the answers don’t come. The soul of a dragon resides in his magic, but it’s willpower and willpower alone. The dragon itself is long dead, leaving only the creed of its life soaking in, fusing with his will like it did with his magic.</p><p>“Who am I supposed to take care of?”</p><p> </p><p>-</p><p> </p><p>X777. It’s been years since Ivan was expelled, Gramps found out about the Lacrima, and the guild began to fill with children.</p><p>
  <em> Children.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>When Laxus looks at gramps, and then at Gray, Erza and Cana-- he finds himself wondering if the dragon was talking about <em> this </em> sort of legacy. Not a physical object, but the next generation, one that can hold onto their will and achieve what they couldn’t.</p><p>What would the child of a dragon look like? Is that what Laxus is supposed to take care of? Why would they ask an artificial Dragon Slayer like them?</p><p>...Or maybe because Laxus is the only successful Second Generation Dragon Slayers, as far as this continent knows. This dragon was asking just anyone for help, not Laxus in particular. Maybe.</p><p> </p><p>Implanting a Lacrima successfully is a one-in-hundred-thousand chance, and you’d need the affinity for it to begin with. Laxus himself was simply alive because Ivan dabbled in dark magic to some degree to cheat his way through. </p><p>(Why would a dragon give him Dragon Slayer Magic and then ask him to take care of their… legacy, if it was a child? It made no sense.)</p><p> </p><p>Laxus, if he were to admit, was only a little interested in this favour. </p><p>If they were so desperate that their dying wish passed through their long-dead soul and still lived on in their magic, maybe it’s important. But it sounded like a pain and it sounded incredibly troublesome. </p><p>He doesn’t like to feel obligated for something he didn’t quite sign up for.</p><p>He didn’t sign up for the nightmares either, but he has to deal with them and that’s about enough bullshit for a lifetime.</p><p> </p><p>(Maybe he’ll deal with it if he comes directly to him, but if it’s on the other side of the world, Laxus isn’t going to bother.)</p><p> </p><p>“Woah, it’s huge! Is this a wizard guild?!”</p><p>Instantly, Laxus’s magic power shrivels up, curls in with its thick, thunder-lined claws-- and it <em> roars </em>.</p><p>It came so suddenly, he stumbled from where he was standing and crumbled to his knees in pain. There was only fog in his vision, and in the distance, someone called his name in worry.</p><p>He clenched his heart, feeling the magic of the dragon in his veins boil and churn and scream and <em> resound </em>.</p><p> </p><p>(That’s it.)</p><p>(That’s the one.)</p><p> </p><p>He looks up.</p><p>Gramps is at the entrance, along with a pink-haired child with a scarf like scales and a dance of fire in his smile.</p><p> </p><p>“Laxus! Laxus, are you alright?”</p><p>Oh, is that Cana? Shit, he’s still on his hands and knees, on the ground-- he’s dizzy and he feels like he’s going to throw up. This is worse than a train.</p><p>He leans back against the wall and groans. The kid is still there, he’s cheerful, he’s excited, and his magic <em> sings </em> with the power of a dragon’s core. But it’s not like Laxus… this kid… this kid is the real deal.</p><p>A real Dragon Slayer, in this era.</p><p>No, not <em> just </em> a Dragon Slayer. Unmistakably, that was it-- that’s what the dragon inside him is pitting his dying wish, his dying <em> hopes </em> on.</p><p> </p><p>(It’s a real, living dragon, surviving in borrowed form.)</p><p>(Natsu didn't just have a voice in his head. Natsu had the real, living thing, and Laxus just had the disembodied zombie haunting his head. That’s the main difference between them.)</p><p> </p><p>He massages his temples. “You’ve got to be shitting me right now.”</p><p> </p><p>-</p><p> </p><p>“What’s wrong, Laxus?” Makarov asks, from his spot on the counter. “You’ve been staring weirdly at the kids since Natsu joined. You interested in your fellow dragon?”</p><p>Laxus rolls his eyes.</p><p>“Fellow nothing, that’s an actual dragon you’re looking at,” Laxus says. Enno hands him a glass of juice, so he takes it with a short word of thanks. </p><p>“Oh not with your teenage angst again,” Makarov pointed his stick at his grandson, “you might just have a Lacrima, but you’re still a proper Dragon Slayer, got it?”</p><p>That’s not what Laxus was referring to, but he’s not going to correct his Gramps.</p><p> </p><p>Laxus sets his eyes on the kids again-- Gray is fighting with Natsu, and Erza is busy studying Cana’s cards with her, so she hadn’t moved to stop the scuffle yet. </p><p>Laxus can’t deny that he <em> is </em>interested in the kid, though. He’s so interested, he would rather never interact with the little fire dragon ever.</p><p> </p><p>
  <b> <em>(“ProtEct him yoU imbECile I am LEndiNg you my pOWer”)</em> </b>
  <b></b>
</p><p>
  <em> Ow ow ow ow okay I get it I get it stop--</em>
</p><p>That voice in his head is such an utter headache. Karma is also an asshole-- why did the kid have to come to Fairy Tail? <em> Can’t you read the mood and stay in some other continent?</em></p><p> </p><p>“I’m going on a mission,” Laxus decides with a sigh. “Natsu, you wanna come with me?”</p><p> </p><p>Laxus doesn’t know shit about taking care of a child, but well, if this Dragon wants <em> Laxus </em> of all people to ‘take care’ of a kid, Laxus is going to make them regret it. </p><p>“Laxus, what’s gone over you?’</p><p>“Who are you and what have you done with our resident teenage edgelord?”</p><p>“Master, call Porlyusica! Laxus is sick! SICK!”</p><p>“Master, that’s a fake Laxus! Destroy it!”</p><p>It takes Laxus less than a minute to clear the guild hall of overdramatic morons. A punch to the head each for the kids, a sock in the gut for the other assholes. </p><p> </p><p>Then he stands in front of Natsu.</p><p>Natsu, big bump on his head, looks up with teary eyes.</p><p>“I’m only asking one more time,” Laxus says, dusting his hands and readjusting his headphones on his head. He sets the mission-- a subjugation and retrieval-- in front of Natsu so he can read it, “you coming or not?”</p><p>Natsu doesn’t hesitate. He straight up <em> sparkles </em>.</p><p>“HELL YEAH!”</p><p> </p><p>It soon became a staple for Laxus to have a kid trailing behind him on his missions, fire-punching the little things every so often and being lugged around like a sack of potatoes when he was up to too much mischief.</p><p>And when three others joined Fairy Tail, many years later-- the five of them became known as the Thunder God Tribe.</p><p> </p><p>-</p>
<hr/><p>-</p><p> </p><p>Natsu has always lived with a little too many weights on his chest.</p><p> </p><p>He would say he's not a child, but he really is. He lost his ability to mature at a normal rate along with his humanity four hundred years ago. He will forever be a child, though his body grows. </p><p>He doesn't want to grow up. If Zeref can't grow up, he shouldn't either. It just wasn't fair. </p><p> </p><p>(At least, that was his mindset the last time he saw his brother. It's been too many years now, Natsu still feels the same way, but the resolve just isn't the same without Zeref to hold onto.)</p><p>Thinking isn’t like him. He shouldn’t think about it.</p><p>(When he thinks too long, hours and days can pass by before he blinks.)</p><p>(Immortality makes your sense of time dull out.)</p><p> </p><p>He joined Fairy Tail only half a year after he arrived in the world. </p><p>A child as he was, he was fascinated by everything. Modern technology, huge buildings, the amount of <em> people </em> and strange clothing everywhere in the world. The sense of family in Fairy Tail. The rivalry between him and Gray, between Fairy and Phantom. </p><p>It was all so fascinating to him. And it only made him realize how <em> different </em> he was.</p><p> </p><p>He sees Gray sometimes and he has to remind himself that he isn’t Gajeel. That isn’t his childhood rival, no matter how similar their relationship is. He has to bite his lip and remind himself that Lisanna isn’t Wendy, and Romeo isn’t Sting. </p><p> </p><p>They’re their own people, and though Natsu doesn’t need to push them away, he shouldn’t think of them as replacements.</p><p>It’s in the same way as how Makarov wasn’t a replacement for Igneel, and Igneel isn’t a replacement for Zeref.</p><p>They’re different people, in different eras, a different family.</p><p>He just has to adapt.</p><p> </p><p>-</p>
<hr/><p>-</p><p> </p><p>The silence was loud.</p><p>For one long moment, no one in the guild moved. All eyes were turned toward the counter, where Gray had just punched Natsu in the face.</p><p>Gray punched him all the time, that was nothing new.</p><p>But this punch was different.</p><p> </p><p>“You take that back, Natsu!” Gray yelled, and he was <em> furious </em>. </p><p> </p><p>There was none of his usual rivalry in this-- this was just sheer rage, and it didn’t take a genius to realize Natsu had probably crossed a few lines too far with whatever he’d said.</p><p>Natsu-- the usual Natsu would’ve blown up and retaliated with a punch of his own, yelling back angrily and fiercely denying his own guilt in all of this.</p><p>But this time, Natsu didn’t.</p><p>Natsu just sat there and glared.</p><p>“You know nothing about him, and yet you’re talking shit,” he spat out the words, “and now you’re telling <em> me </em>to take it back?”</p><p>Gray lunged.</p><p>“Who’s the one that knows nothing?!”</p><p>“It’s you, obviously!”</p><p>“You can shut the hell up!”</p><p>“That’s my line!”</p><p>Erza, snapping out of her daze, immediately stepped forward. “Wait, you two! Stop fighting already!” she said, but for some reason, she felt like this time, her little punch and yell wouldn’t be enough.</p><p> </p><p>“What’s going on here?” </p><p> </p><p>That’s Master, but Natsu and Gray don’t stop yelling over each other. One look at the disarray in the guild, and Makarov has his hands out, extending it leagues forward and crushing both of the brats under his fist.</p><p>“Master!”</p><p>Makarov stepped between them, letting the kids uproot from the debris-- but the fire wasn’t gone yet. Gray’s expressions were dark and Natsu was aflame. When they yelled, there was real heat behind it.</p><p>“Natsu’s actually defending Black Wizard Zeref!”</p><p>“You're the one that started talking shit!” </p><p>“He doesn’t even <em> know </em> who Zeref is!”</p><p>“<em>You’re </em> the one that knows nothing about him!”</p><p>Makarov slammed a hand on the ground. “ENOUGH!” he yelled. “Both of you, apologize to each other.”</p><p>“But <em> he’s </em>the one that--!”</p><p>“Just apologize, both of you!” </p><p> </p><p>-</p><p> </p><p>After that, Natsu was brought into Master’s office.</p><p>Zeref was the epitome of darkness in the world, and Master had to make sure he knew that. It was something most of the children easily understood upon being told-- so he had no idea why Natsu was so defiant about it.</p><p>“Before they joined the guild, Gray and Erza suffered greatly at the hands of Zeref’s worshippers,” Makarov said.</p><p>And that, <em> that </em> had Natsu looking up, horrified.</p><p>“You can justify anything in this world, Natsu-- criminals, enemies... with time, surely, anyone can be redeemed,” Makarov said, “but you cannot justify what happened to someone else for them. They are the only ones that can come to a closure about their own pasts, no matter if they're right or wrong. Give them time, Natsu."</p><p> </p><p>-</p><p> </p><p>“Hey, Lisanna. Do you hate the Black Wizard Zeref, too?” </p><p>Natsu had asked her that one day, in the lonesome of their little hut, with the blue egg between them and the sunset before them.</p><p>“You’re still going on about that?” Lisanna asks, and Natsu feels his stomach drop, his fists clench. Lisanna chuckles, “well, if you really think about it, I don’t hate him.” </p><p>Natsu’s shoulders lift, just a little. </p><p>Lisanna chuckles. “He’s a few centuries old! Maybe he’s just an old man,” she says. Then her smile drops away. “But I guess we all hate what he left behind. All those demons, all that dark magic, it’s hard not to hate his... <em> legacy </em>.”</p><p> </p><p>And Natsu can tell. </p><p>She’s trying not to hurt Natsu’s feelings. She’s trying her best to see both sides, trying to be reasonable in a way that isn’t fierce like Gray.</p><p>She’s just being nice.</p><p> </p><p>Not knowing that she’s saying exactly what hurts Natsu the most. </p><p> </p><p>“I guess you’re right.”</p><p> </p><p>And on that day, Natsu swore upon himself to never speak of Zeref in front of them again. He learned to think twice about his beliefs, and learned to never tell anyone of his real age between the lines. </p><p>He told them about Igneel, but nothing more and definitely not about the dragon’s spirit in his veins.</p><p>He knows that he can never trust them fully.</p><p> </p><p>One day, they’ll find out what he is and they’ll reject him.</p><p>It’s inevitable.</p><p> </p><p>(Because he is Zeref’s legacy, something even the kindest little Lisanna hates.)</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. A Fake Salamander and a Magical Book.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>X784. <br/>The same things seem to go through-- but no. Not by the people you think.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span class="u">
    <b>July X784.</b>
  </span>
</p><p>
  <span class="u">
    <b>Magnolia Town, Outskirts.</b>
  </span>
</p><p>
  <span class="u">
    <b>Scene: Thunder God Tribe.</b>
  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re here again, Natsu?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Laxus walks up to the little straw-made hut. Natsu sits before a gravestone, legs crossed with a smile on his face. He’d planted a little flower in the soil before the stone, and it was growing beautifully.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah.” Natsu hums. Turning up to the guy. “Just wanted to see her before we went. It’ll be a while before we’re back, right?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You say that every time,” Laxus sighs. “We’ll be back before you know it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You say that every time too, then we walk the long way around and it takes us ages to get anywhere,” Natsu pouts. “Back and forth.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Laxus fumbles, “well you don’t want to ride a train either, right?!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Natsu bursts out laughing, “you’re just using me as an excuse to avoid transportation!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Shut up or I’m leaving you behind!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Natsu laughs as Laxus swirls around and marches right away. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dusting himself off, Natsu stands up. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Bye Lisanna, I’ll be back soon!” he says, giving the gravestone a big grin before turning around to follow after the lightning mage. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So, what’s the job this time?” Natsu asks.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His eyes follow Happy as the cat lands on his shoulder. Beside them, Evergreen lands daintily on the ground before opening her fan before her face and walking along.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And in front of them, Freed and Bickslow are waiting.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s an S Class. We’re supposed to deal with some big slave ring in Bosco or something,” Laxus says. “Freed and Ever are handling the talking, so you stay out of it until the punching starts, alright?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah yeah.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Of course you’re not listening. What did I expect?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Laxus groans longsufferingly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Bickslow laughs along with Natsu, both of them running ahead to avoid Laxus’ annoyed yells and reprimands. The little soul dolls echoed obnoxiously, being infuriating little shits for no reason.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ever turned away with a show of disgust, but there was a smile hidden behind her fan. Freed sighed with fondness.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“With this many of us, it’ll be easy, won’t it?” Natsu says, “Laxus and I could do this ourselves!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I can do it myself, </span>
  <em>
    <span>alone</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” Laxus emphasizes. “I’m only bringing you along because I don’t want you to throw a tantrum when I get back.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“STOP TREATING ME LIKE A KID!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Now, Natsu,” Freed chides, “a part of this mission is doing it as quickly as we can, and you can’t simply punch your way through it, which is why the rest of us have our jobs delegated for us to ensure maximum efficiency in achieving the goals of this mission without endangering the lives of any--”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“AHhhhh! Stop talking! You’re making book worms breed in my brain!” Natsu whined.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"...Natsu, you know bookworms aren't actually worms, right?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>-</span>
</p><hr/><p>
  <span>-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span class="u">
    <b>July X784.</b>
  </span>
</p><p>
  <span class="u">
    <b>Hargeon Town, Portside.</b>
  </span>
</p><p>
  <span class="u">
    <b>Scene: Lucy Heartfilia.</b>
  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Lucy sighs in disappointment. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tucking her keys back by her waist, she turns and walks away from the wreckage, where the magic knights were already seizing Bora the Prominence and his gangly crew of slave traders.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lucy groans at the dress sticking to her figure. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The sea water was icky against her skin-- ugh, she’s going to have a nice long bath after this at her inn. It’s a relief Aquarius could help her through the ordeal, but the mermaid could </span>
  <em>
    <span>really</span>
  </em>
  <span> do without washing Lucy away too.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So he’s not even from Fairy Tail? What a waste of time,” she mutters. “I should’ve asked him to show me his mark before I believed him.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Guess it really isn’t all that easy to join the guild, huh. Opportunities don’t just offer themselves on a platter, after all.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Alright, enough dallying. I’ll go to the guild myself and ask to join!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lucy has to work for it if she really wants to try for it. She ran away from home, after all-- no use sticking around in her comfort zone. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She has to step out and actually be bold!</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ouch! I’m sorry.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lucy bumps into a smaller child as she turns out of an alley. Quickly, she reaches over to catch the girl before she falls.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That was close,” Lucy says, helping the girl to her feet. “Are you okay?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The blue-haired girl smiles. “I’m okay! Thanks for catching me,” she says. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Their hands let go, and Lucy notices something-- this girl is absolutely </span>
  <em>
    <span>adorable</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Long blue hair, vibrant as the night sky-- and a green one-piece dress that was simple and a tad old-fashioned, but suited her well. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Most importantly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is that a guild mark?” Lucy speaks before she realizes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She’d gone around people-watching for guild marks after yesterday’s ordeal, just to remind herself to keep an eye out for something like that again. Perhaps it’s a bit rude to point it out, out of nowhere.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The little girl takes no offense at all. “Yes!” she says, “I’m from Caitshelter. We’re a wizard’s guild by the West Forest.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Caitshelter? Lucy’s never heard of it before… it’s definitely not popular in this area. Maybe it’s a recent guild, then? </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And the West Forest? That’s far.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s impressive! You’re so young, but you’re already in a guild,” Lucy says. “Ah-- right. I’m Lucy. I’m actually a mage, too! I’m not in a guild yet, though.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Really?” the girl asks, “That’s rare. How do you take jobs and everything?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ve just been asking around for anyone that needs help,” Lucy laughs sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head, “I have to admit, though-- I run out of money really often.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The little girl laughs dryly in empathy. “I’m young, I can’t use any offensive money,  plus, my guild is in the far West Forest, so there aren’t a lot of jobs I can take either.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They’re bonding over penniless plights, for some reason.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Ah-- I forgot,” the girl perks up, “I’m--”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wendy!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Both girls flinch at the sharp call in the distance. They turn around to find a blond boy with spiky hair, dressed in similarly old-fashioned clothes as Wendy. His Caitshelter insignia is on his left shoulder, an opposite side to Wendy’s.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>They’re both so young… </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ah, Sting,” the girl, that Lucy now knows is </span>
  <em>
    <span>Wendy,</span>
  </em>
  <span> responds in slight panic. “I’m sorry! I got a little caught up. Did you find Lector and Carla?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"They're waiting for us on the platform."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"That's a relief! I'll be right there, then."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Lucy turns to the boy-- Sting, was it? The little boy stares skeptically at Lucy before marching forward and putting Wendy behind him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m sorry for her, she’s very clumsy,” Sting says, in all the tone of absolute wariness with an underlying threat, “we need to catch a train, so if you’ll excuse us.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“S-Sting!” Wendy chastises him for his tone, “Lucy’s a nice person, you don’t have to be so rude.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m not being--”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“--sorry, Lucy. It’s been nice talking to you, I hope we meet again,” Wendy says, bowing politely. “We really need to catch a train, so we’ll have to go now.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ah, don’t mind me. Sorry to hold you up.” Lucy manages to say, still taken aback by the scary twelve-year old at the side. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sting was now growling like an angry cat, though he only does it behind Wendy’s back so the girl doesn’t see it. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Have a safe trip, both of you,” Lucy tells them in lieu of a goodbye.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Good luck on finding a guild, Lucy!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And just as quickly as they bumped into each other, Wendy and Sting scurries away.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lucy smiles and waves. Then without thinking much about it again, she turns around and continues on her way.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh, a new recruit?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lucy flinches. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Master Makarov, a surprisingly little old man, grins up at her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, welcome aboard!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Words could not express the sheer </span>
  <em>
    <span>happiness</span>
  </em>
  <span> that bloomed inside her chest at that moment. She could cry or squeal in excitement, but she settled with a beaming smile.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It took her quite a while, but she’s finally made it all the way to Fairy Tail’s guild hall. It’s a mess in there, with drunkards filling the tavern hall and chaos going on in some corner, tables and chairs being shattered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And oh, </span>
  <em>
    <span>Mirajane</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Mirajane Strauss, world-class beauty.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lucy has only been in this guild hall for two minutes, but she’s ready to spontaneously combust out of sheer happiness.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes!” She bows and smiles. “I’m Lucy!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>To this day, she still can’t believe how easy it was to just walk up and ask for a stamp.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She was all worried for nothing, because opportunities came as easily as just needing to pick up the courage to walk in that door.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>-</span>
</p><hr/><p>
  <span>-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span class="u">
    <b>July X784.</b>
  </span>
</p><p>
  <span class="u">
    <b>Shirotsume Town, Everlue Mansion.</b>
  </span>
</p><p>
  <span class="u">
    <b>Scene: Team Shadow Gear.</b>
  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Wait, you three,” the Magic Knight stops the mage team. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Levy turns around. “Is there anything else?” she asks, holding Daybreak to her chest.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After a hasty mission of breaking and entering-- and inevitably, fighting, destroying, exposing dirty secrets and getting the army called on them for all the destruction-- Team Shadow Gear was finally able to leave the town, a job well done. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Uh,” the knight pauses at Jet and Droy synchronous glares. Levy beams, unaware of the mad dog legion flanking her sides. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The knight clears his throat, holding up an item in his hands.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Our policy with gate keys is that it would belong to the criminal’s family, or to whoever defeated the previous owner,” he explains, “I’m not sure if you would have a use for it, but it’s either that or the council will discard it back to trade.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Levy prods at the golden gate key curiously. It was definitely a beautiful magical item, but Levy didn’t know how to use Celestial Spirit magic-- nor did anyone else in the guild. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“This was that gorilla maid, wasn’t it?” Jet reminds them, and Levy’s desire to keep the key falls a little further into the drain. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Oh well.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I heard there’s only twelve of these golden gate keys in the entire world,” Levy says, deciding to be positive. After all, Celestial Magic is one of the oldest forms of magic in the world! “Even if I can’t use the magic, I’m interested in reading up about it. I’m sure having one key will be useful when I study.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And it’s free, too.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I guess we could ask the Master what we can do with it after that,” Droy suggests. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alright then. Let’s go look for Mister Kaby and give him the book!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After the job was done and over, Team Shadow Gear made their way toward the train station, ready to go home and look for a new job, since this reward was a bust.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hm? Levy, the card’s glowing.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>In the girl’s pocket, her Call Card was glinting with an alarming blink. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Surprised, she retrieves it and holds it out before her, observing the picture of a terrified Cana blinking in and out of light, signifying a distress message.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Quickly, she sends a pulse of magic through the card.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Levy?” </span>
  </em>
  <span>Cana’s voice comes through, </span>
  <em>
    <span>“This is Cana. Are you guys still at Shirotsume?”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah!” Levy says, at the same time Jet and Droy lean in to give their greetings. “Is something wrong?”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Well, not exactly, I might just be overthinking it,”</span>
  </em>
  <span> Cana says,</span>
  <em>
    <span> “Macao’s been gone for a week on that Vulcan mission. Romeo’s been getting worried, and I was thinking…</span>
  </em>
  <span>” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Vulcans?” Jet asks, “that old geezer took on that Mt Hakobe one? Seriously?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Without Wakaba?” Droy adds, incredulous. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You two are looking down on him too much,” Levy chastises them, “Macao might be middle-aged now, but he </span>
  <em>
    <span>was</span>
  </em>
  <span> one of Fairy tail’s leading guards in his prime, y’know.”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Anyway,” </span>
  </em>
  <span>Cana interrupted sharply,</span>
  <em>
    <span> “if you guys are free, could you drop by Mt Hakobe? Just to check up on him.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Levy shares a glance with her boys.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Then they all grinned at once. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Of course that’s fine, Cana!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jet has a look of pure determination on his face, pumping his fist in excitement. “Just wait, we’ll drag that guy down the mountain for ya!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t worry Cana, we’ll find him!” Droy says.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Cana sounds flustered even through the card.</span>
  <em>
    <span> “I’m not worried!”</span>
  </em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. A Key for your Thoughts.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>
  <b>(excuse the previous upload, this is the real chapter three!)</b>
</p><p>Team Shadow Gear finds Macao.<br/>Lucy integrates herself into the guild.<br/>And Natsu hears a lullaby.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“Ehee, our newbie’s a Celestial Spirit Mage, huh?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lucy startles at the voice suddenly much too close to her ear. She had been perusing her keys at the bar, slotting in Nikora’s key in its spot and reminding herself to make a contract later.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cana leans over, already high and smelling of fermented grapes. She smiles drunkenly and her voice slurs at every word. She sits down beside Lucy and drapes a heavy arm over Lucy’s shoulder.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re already drunk?” Lucy asks, incredulous.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Never too early!” she giggles. “That’s a rare magic! I think Levy was pretty interested in that one. Uhh, Extraterrestrial Ghosts?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Celestial Spirits, but close enough.” Lucy keeps an eye skeptically on the two empty barrels on the ground, and the third one Cana was hugging.  “Aren’t you drinking too much?” she asks, a little repulsed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m </span>
  <em>
    <span>never </span>
  </em>
  <span>drinking too much,” Cana insists. “Gets my mind off things. I like it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lucy raises an eyebrow,but she accepts it as a quirk of Fairy Tail nonsense and sets her keys down on the table. “My mother was a Celestial Wizard, so I had a natural affinity for it. She gave me her old keys too, so I didn’t really have any reason not to use it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cana blinks at that, eyeing the keys curiously. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“From your mother, huh,” she considers, raising her stack of tarot cards with a goofy grin. “Guess we have something in common.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lucy doesn’t miss that. She jumps at the chance for a conversation. “Hey, don’t you think Celestial Magic and Card Magic are, theoretically, pretty similar? The stars, the galaxy, and they’re both written in the language of Castor, too!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cana’s face morphs into a mischievous smirk.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wanna see how those two can work together, then?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lucy blinks. Cana points at the request board. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Let’s go on a mission together, Lucy!” she grins, taking the girl’s hands in hers. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Eh?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s girl time!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“EH?!”</span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Macao!” Levy yells, “Macao, please, get a hold of yourself!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nothing’s looking good now.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Team Shadow Gear soldiers on in the blizzard, finally reaching the peak where the Vulcans had their nests.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Long story short, Macao got taken over. And when they finally got him free, Macao had wounds hard enough to kill a proper man. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Droy, any luck with the call card?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He shakes his head immediately. Droy snaps the card in his hand, shaking it desperately, but it just blinks stubbornly like a faulty buzzer.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The blizzard had only gone from bad to worse at this point. Levy was lightly clothed, but she could care less about that.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Pressing Jet’s coat on the largest wound on Macao’s side, Levy couldn't even begin to imagine how they could get out of here. The cloth was soaking up quickly, bleeding, bleeding, getting worse and not at all getting any better. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jet can’t run out in this weather. Even if he could, there was no way he could bring someone back with him without losing his way.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Damn, if only we’d come earlier!” Jet punches the wall, frustrated. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Enough, Jet!” Levy says. She willed magic into her hands, but she couldn’t gather it up well. She’s flustered and her magic power can’t coagulate.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Think, think, think! </span>
  </em>
  <span>They need to do something-- first aid without proper tools, there has to be </span>
  <em>
    <span>something</span>
  </em>
  <span> they can do.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Levy’s supposed to be smart. She can handle this pressure. Throw rationality out the window-- there has to be a way. Any way…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There’s enough ice in their surroundings. She can't make anything that’s a liquid, and she can’t make anything too small, meaning thread and needles are a no. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Droy can’t call upon specific plants, so they can’t just summon medicinal herbs out of nowhere, not that they would know which they could use to begin with.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>So their priority is to leave Mt Hakobe. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>But Jet can’t run through the blizzard. There has to be another route they can go for--</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s it!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jet and Droy flinch when she suddenly yells. Droy takes off his coat to help apply pressure to the wound, but Levy is reaching a blood-coated hand to her back pocket.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What did you realize, Levy?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“This,” Levy holds up the golden gate key. “Virgo can…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And Jet immediately reaches over to grab her hand out of the air. His fingers collapsed tightly around hers in a panic.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No!” he yells. Levy turns to him almost startled, and Jet frowns. “You can’t use it! Celestial Spirit Magic isn’t like every other Holder type magic, you can’t just feed magic power to it and hope it works!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He’s right, Levy,” Droy interrupts, putting his hand on Levy’s as well. “It’s reckless!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Levy bites her lip. “But-- what else can we do? Virgo’s our only hope right now!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She feels the tears run down her cheeks and she smears it aside with the blood on her hands. She can’t do this right now.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Surely-- surely the key would respond. Even if it took all the magic she had, it </span>
  <em>
    <span>had</span>
  </em>
  <span> to.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She gathered magic into her hands, and prayed.</span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>Natsu stops abruptly with his fork in the air. His ears twitched at a vaguely familiar music far, far, away.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Looking around, he tries to discern what that bad feeling in the air could have been. It’s not here-- but he can’t smell much past the thick salt of the sea.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What’s wrong, Natsu?” Happy speaks up, noticing his distracted state before the rest of the table. “If you don’t eat quickly, Bickslow’s gonna steal-- nevermind, there it goes.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Natsu frowns. A cruise ship’s horn blares in the distance, and he could no longer hear the distinct melody. When the horn ends, the sound is gone.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Something’s wrong. Something bad, something familiar, and something dark. But he can't quite put a finger on what it is. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Evergreen chuckles, “Natsu, if you hate getting on the ship that much, you can ask your big brother Laxus to swim with you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m NOT swimming!” Laxus insists, teeth grinding. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Natsu’s eyes are stuck on the scenery outside. “It’s not that, it’s just…” he mutters, “...something smells wrong.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Smell isn’t the right word for it. It was more like a feeling, a distant pulse of darkness, a little too far away for him to distinguish, but it’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>there</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Darkness? Ah. That’s it-- that’s what it is. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>No wonder it was familiar to him. Somewhere in the distance, one of Zeref’s old pieces of junk must have been discovered by the humans.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>(How troublesome. Natsu might have to take a detour to deal with that nonsense. He’s not sure if the humans are capable of handling this…)</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What, you smell a fart or something?” Bickslow asks with a smirk, and Evergreen immediately backhands him right in the mask. “Ow! What was that for?!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t be so vulgar in a restaurant! Geez, this is why I hate eating with you goblins!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Did you just call us goblins?!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes, Goblins!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Evergreen opens her fan, turning away almost disgusted to be on the same table. Bickslow looks more playfully offended than anything-- but his dolls were chanting an annoyed ‘not goblins, not goblins!’ from behind.. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Freed sighs longsufferingly, having to deal with the misfortune of sitting between them. Setting down his cutlery, he raises his fingers-- “whoever fights within these runes will--”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Bickslow and Evergreen instantly pale. “Stop! Stop! We apologize! Don’t do that! Freed!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Then sit down and eat quietly,” Freed says curtly, as if he hadn’t just threatened them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Bicks started it!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You hit me out of nowhere, Ever!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Seriously, who put the terrible three on the same side of the table? Happy watches the scene with fond laughter, holding his fish protectively as he warned them about not destroying the restaurant.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Laxus, nursing a headache, decides that he’d ought to invest in a pair of noise-cancelling earphones.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Seriously, the mission hasn’t even started yet and we’re about to fall apart,” he groans.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Aye,” Happy agrees.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Laxus keeps his gaze on Natsu, who’s still looking out the window and thinking deeply to himself. It’s not too rare to find Natsu staring out in melancholy, but he usually does that when he’s alone, not in the middle of a meal with the rest of the gang.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>(It’s worrying.)</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What is it, Natsu?” Laxus prompts, knowing very well he might not get a straight answer from Natsu-- no one ever does, not even LIsanna could pry honest answers out of him when he’s like this. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Natsu glances at Laxus with a contemplative look-- and Laxus knows, that’s the look Natsu gives him when he’s juggling trust around his fingers, wondering if the information was worth spilling. It never is.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It’s the look Natsu gives everyone when he’s not sure how to act.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>(Laxus knows better than anyone how it feels to not have someone you can trust with everything.)</span>
</p><p>
  <span>(It’s not as if Natsu doesn’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>trust </span>
  </em>
  <span>them-- Natsu believes in the guild with all his heart. It’s the other way around that was questionable, and it always makes him think twice.) </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It only lasts a second, because Natsu eventually notices his missing chunk of meat. He’s confused for a moment before he locates it right between Bickslow’s teeth</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“My meat!!” he </span>
  <em>
    <span>howls</span>
  </em>
  <span>, demanding the disgusting thing returned somehow. “GIVE IT BACK!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I already ate it, you slowpoke!” Bickslow laughs, his obnoxious dolls echoing ‘stupid, stupid’ in the vicinity just to be a bunch of miniature menaces.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Laxus sighs fondly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>(One day, Natsu will learn to give his heart to the guild.)</span>
</p><p>
  <span>(Even if he doesn’t, that’s fine too.)</span>
</p><p>
  <span>(They’re guildmates. They’ll help each other even if they don’t understand each other fully. Because that’s what families do.)</span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>For Cana, hearing about Macao was nothing short of an absolute nightmare. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>They come home from their mission, and there’s a crowd before the guild. It’s raining, and the guild is oddly quiet. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And Cana knows this situation.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It’s just like that day two years ago when Lisanna died.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>So she drops her bottle of sake and runs. Runs all the way past the district, her eyes fixed before her and her mind set on only one thing.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Cana?! Hey!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She leaves Lucy behind.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And she crashes into the side of the guild doors when she gets there, her breathing erratic, her eyes running wildly across the room.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Someone’s crying.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Other people look at her, surprised. They haven’t thought of how to tell her the news yet.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cana feels her heart sink. “Wh- Where’s Macao?” she asks, almost too scared to hear an answer to this question.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>It can’t be happening it can’t be--</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Cana!” </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>--there he is.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Cana immediately feels all the energy leave her limbs. She collapses in a heap, the breath finally coming in warm and sweet. She sighs in relief, feeling Levy crouch down at her side to lay a hand on her shoulder.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m home!” Macao hollers, his stupid smile on his face. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>There’s an eyeptch over one eye and way too many bandages over everywhere else, but he’s alive and smiling that stupid smile and he’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>alive</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Welcome back to you too!” Macao says.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And Cana can’t help but smile.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You stupid geezer, I was worried!”</span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>Macao came home with a near-death injury, slightly weakened eyesight, and a medical report that spelled his left leg’s paralysis for life. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>To say everyone was shocked would be an understatement.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Wakaba and Mirajane started off with flustered lectures and angry reprimands on the importance of not overdoing your job.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Romeo cried, and cried, and cried some more.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Team Shadow Gear, exhausted from their missions, fell fast asleep. The boys were sprawled over each other and Levy lay her head over the bar counter.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Beside them, Master smiled in relief.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That day, they had a party. Cana, Romeo, and Wakaba sprawled over Macao in their sleep, drunk and hazy and carefully keeping their weight away from Macao’s wounds.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lucy watched her very first Fairy Tail all-out party, and decided to summon Lyra to play them all a gentle tune for the sunrise.</span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>Lucy clutches Plue in her arms, heading toward Fairy Hills with her luggage.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cana had told her about the lodgings, so after spending a couple of nights in the guild’s infirmary, she was finally going to get a room here.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She had enough for a month’s rent with the job she had just finished, anyways.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s pretty sad, the thing with Macao-san,” she talks to Plue, as you do when walking alone in the daybreak. “But I’m glad they have the guild to help them through this. He seems like a good dad.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Very much unlike her own father, huh.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It’s still startling. It’s only her second day in, but being in a guild isn’t as bright as colourful as she’d imagined. Sure, it was lively and fun, and eccentric, but the dangers were also much clearer than they had been before.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She fought bandits today with Cana. They weren’t a big deal, so it wasn’t tough.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But what happened to Macao could happen to anyone. They were lucky today, strong enough today. But one careless move and their entire life as a mage is over.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It’s a little scary, but there’s no job without risks.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She came out into the real world to see those thrills with her own eyes. She can’t back away from just this much.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m a member of Fairy Tail now, so I’ve gotta get stronger, right?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And Plue cheers, probably agreeing.</span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Lucy!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lucy squeaks.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She had been unpacking in her new room when Levy Mcgarden burst right in with a little more than stomping of feet and one panicked knock that might’ve just been her head crashing into the door. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Levy fixes her glasses on her head and smiles sleepily. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sorry, sorry!” she says, “I’m Levy! Sorry I couldn’t greet you yesterday, apparently I slept until just now!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lucy quickly straightens. Levy-- she’s heard Cana mention her before. “I’m Lucy, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Levy blinks momentarily in a sort of curiosity before quickly turning to the view of her room. “I’m next door, by the way! So you can come ask me if there’s anything you need help with.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Really?” Lucy smiles, her right hand coming up to rest at her cheek, “this is my first time living in a dorm, so I’m feeling a little nervous. It’s strange to think that I have neighbours now!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Levy’s eyes drift to Lucy’s fingers-- but she once again dismisses it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Right!” she says, “is it true you’re Celestial Spirit Mage?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>At Lucy’s curious look, Levy retrieves the key from her back pocket.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Tada!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Lucy’s jaw drops. “No way!” she beams, hands held together in gleaming fascination, “that’s a golden gate key!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It is!” Levy says closing the room door behind her. She steps over a stack of books to sit down beside Lucy on the bed. “I got it as collateral from my previous job. You can have it, Lu-chan! Think of it as your guild initiation gift.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And that-- that makes Lucy’s jaw drop once more.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, no-- I really shouldn’t!” she denies, flustered. “They’re expensive and I’m penniless! I should at least buy it from you once I have enough money to afford it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Levy pouts, “just accept it, Virgo is strong, you know?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lucy hesitates. She could definitely use a new strong spirit in her arsenal, but gaining it just like this just sounded wrong-- like she was cheating her way through something that should’ve been difficult. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hmm, to tell the truth, Lu-chan, I managed to summon Virgo on the way back from saving Macao.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Eh?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It surprised me too!” Levy says, setting down the key for the story time. “We were trapped in a blizzard, Macao was in trouble! So she took magic from me, Jet, and Droy-- we’re called Team Shadow Gear, by the way-- and came out to help us! We were really tired later though.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lucy gapes, “I’ve never heard of a spirit doing that before!” she says, “coming out of their own will, without a contractor…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Right? That’s when I thought that Celestial Spirits are amazing!” Levy looks at Virgo’s key again. “They’re summoned creatures, yet they’re so much more compassionate than humans can be. Isn’t that interesting?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lucy’s eyes seem to sparkle.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Exactly,” she says, stressing the word. “Spirits, you know, they look like humans, you know? They have things they like and dislike-- Aquarius even gets mad at me when I interrupt her dates with her boyfriend! When I get a new key, it’s like I’m getting a new brother or sister!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Brother or sister? That’s a cute way to see it!” Levy fawns, “That’s right! Could you summon Virgo? I couldn’t talk much to her just now because of the rush.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sure!”</span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>Approximately two seconds later, Lucy realizes she got tricked into making a contract.</span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well then, thank you for your time, Princess. I shall take my leave. I also wish Macao-san a quick recovery.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ah, right. See ya!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And contract done. Lucy somehow ended up making it anyways-- simply because Virgo seemed eager to make one and Levy didn’t want to sell the key anyways. Lucy could probably treat Levy to a meal next week or month for it? Hmm.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Wait.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Levy?” she turns around, suddenly realizing that the girl isn’t beside her anymore. Where could she be in this tiny room when the door isn’t open?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oohhh!!!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And Lucy shrieks, noticing Levy at her desk, holding up a stack of very familiar-looking papers, shifting through the pages at a mile a minute.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“NOoo!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lucy’s breathing heavily by the time she manages to snatch the novel from the girl.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Levy is beaming happily, a smile wide on her face. How much has she already read? Lucy wants to cry. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I knew it!” Levy says, reaching over to pick up Lucy’s right hand. “You have a writer’s bump and it’s worse than mine! Are you writing a novel, Lu-chan?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lucy’s face proceeds to heat up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Uh-- yeah. Maybe, I am. Yes, I guess…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Levy </span>
  <em>
    <span>sparkles</span>
  </em>
  <span>. “That’s so cool! I love reading, but I’m terrible at writing!” she says. An idea blooms in her head. “That’s it! Lu-chan, instead of paying me for the key, can I read your story once you’re done with it?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Eh?” Lucy blushes. “I mean, that’s fine…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Then it’s a promise, okay? I want to be the first person to read it!” Levy says. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lucy chuckles at that. “Sure, if you’re fine with just that.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And that’s that.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It hasn’t been too long since she joined, but Lucy has gained a room, a debt, a new key, and a number one fan. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She loves it already.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
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